Young Professionals

As demand grows for construction projects, finding and retaining qualified workers has become—and remained—increasingly difficult. To help overcome the labor shortage, BELL Construction—a leading construction company in the Southeast providing general contracting, design-build an...

Before Rebecca Barrows started her junior year of high school outside of Houston, she assumed that her next step would be a collegiate architecture program. But a visit to New York City for an architecture camp in the summer of 2018 changed her direction. “We visited a hospital t...

The building construction and service industry is ripe for disruption and further digital innovation. As the field evolves, it’s becoming increasingly complex, requiring workers to have advanced skills and knowledge of modern equipment and technology, such as digital building aut...

“The very first time I did this, I didn’t actually ask for help. My thought was people wouldn’t take time off of work for this, but they did want to help, and companies were so willing to invest people and funds. We have enough sponsors now that it is 100% free for participants.”...

Husband. Father. Coach. Hobby rancher. Mayor. Vice president and partner of his company. Jim Ellis holds a lot of titles for a man who hasn’t even hit the age of 40—and all of these achievements have led to him being named Associated Builders and Contractors’ Young Professional o...

Born in Nigeria to a Ghanian mother and a Nigerian-born American father, Derek Hoffine’s path to a career with one of the United States’ most well-known construction companies doesn’t necessarily sound like it was “fate.” But to hear of his incredible success in the construction ...

A husband. A father. A rancher. The mayor of an Iowa town. Vice president of his company. Jim Ellis wears lot of hats for a man who hasn’t even hit the age of 40—and all of these achievements led to him becoming one of three finalists for Associated Builders and Contractors’ Youn...

From the time Kevin Strahler started doing prefabrication work after graduating high school in 2006, he was hooked. “I could build something with my hands and see the project through from start to finish,” he says. “It was the greatest thing I’d ever done.” He climbed the ranks ...

West Point graduate Steven Sattler grew up on a Michigan dairy farm, where he witnessed firsthand mad cow disease wiping out the entire farm. That eye-opener made him realize that he wanted to find a viable plan and a sustainable future career path. When he got out of the Army, c...

It’s pretty special when a network of family members, teachers and colleagues can build on one another’s mentorship to guide a person into a successful career. That’s been the case for Fernando Sanchez, who joined the construction industry at his brother’s urging in 2007, advance...